Citizen Kane (1941) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance. Director: Herman J. Mankiewicz (original screen play), Orson Welles (original screen play) Stars: Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence.

a list of 36 titles created 07 Dec 2011 a list of 30 titles created 28 May 2012 a list of 39 titles created 28 Nov 2015 a list of 41 titles created 9 months ago a list of 26 titles created 1 month ago Search for " Citizen Kane " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 12 nominations. See more awards » Videos In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications. Director: Michael Curtiz A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her. Director: Alfred Hitchcock A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. Director: Alfred Hitchcock An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically try to stop. Director: Stanley Kubrick A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. Director: Alfred Hitchcock A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity. Director: Billy Wilder During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X In future Britain, Alex DeLarge, a charismatic and psycopath delinquent, who likes to practice crimes and ultra-violence with his gang, is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem - but not all goes according to plan. Director: Stanley Kubrick An insurance representative lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions. Director: Billy Wilder Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest. Director: Stanley Kubrick After refusing to attack an enemy position, a general accuses the soldiers of cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.

Director: Stanley Kubrick Edit Storyline A group of reporters are trying to decipher the last word ever spoken by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the top of the world. Written by Zack H. 5 September 1941 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia Judy Holliday tested for the role of Susan Alexander (under her real name Judy Tuvim). See more » Goofs When Kane is performing his "rooster" as a shadow show to Susan, his hands are not in the position they would be to cast the shadow as it appears. See more » Quotes The end credits show previous scenes from the film showcasing the Mercury Theatre performers. See more » Connections (Sydney, Australia) – See all my reviews I know why you're reading this.

You're smart, you have great taste, a passion for cinema, and you see CK near the top of every 'Great Movie' list ever compiled. So with great anticipation you borrow a DVD copy and sit down for a real treat, and... you can't get through the first half hour. You fall asleep. Surprised, you think, 'It must be me, maybe I'm tired,' so a month later, you try again. But you don't even get as far as before, and wake up drooling out the corner of your mouth as a bloated Orson Welles, with really bad age make-up, groans 'Rosebud, Rosebud'. It doesn't make sense. You're perplexed. You've watched other films on the lists... Casablanca made you stand up and cheer, cry, laugh, feel connected to all humanity. You even adore films on the list that some might consider oblique, like 8 1/2, which you reckon reinvented cinema language, weaving in and out of memory, dreams, psyche, reality, putting the human spirit up on the screen, making you cheer, laugh, and feel connected to all humanity. So why does CK leave you so cold?

You wonder, 'What's wrong with me? Am I stupid or something?' Your borrowed DVD copy gathers dust (notice how the lender never asks for it back?), taunting your unquiet mind: "You must watch me: I'm the greatest film of all time!" But you shudder at the thought. Life's too short and, after all, there's more engaging things to do - like scraping plaque off the dog's teeth. Years pass. Finally, you can take it no longer. You think, 'To be a serious film lover I MUST watch Citizen Kane! Maybe I was too immature before - yes, that must be it!' So you gird your loins and sit - awake! through the whole thing. The whole turgid, ponderous, dull, vacuous, plodding, dank catastrophe. It's even worse than you feared. An emotionally and intellectually empty story. Your average six year old can invent a more complex, engaging tale.

Genuinely puzzled, you ask people who name it as one of the greatest films of all time why they like it, and with barely concealed superiority that phoneys are wont to adopt, they wax lyrical talk about the haunting mystery of the final words, "Rosebud, rosebud". You notice there's no feeling behind what they say. They also talk a great deal about Gregg Toland's cinematography, with liberal references to "deep focus", and you appreciate this, you really do, the cinematography was damned fine, best thing about the movie. That shot which started outside the window then tracked back into the room was really cool. But you just don't believe a movie is made great by cinematography alone. In all your inquiries, you never once hear the following phrase, spoken from the heart: "God, I love that film". So here you find yourself, reading IMDb comments. Well, let me tell you this: There's Nothing Wrong With You! You Are Right! It's Overrated Flashy Unintelligent Rubbish!

One day, perhaps (one can but dream), the coolest, greatest, most admired film being in the world will point out the bleeding obvious nakedness of this bloated Emperor, and the assorted film critics, film studies teachers, and others who need to be told what to think by an authority figure, shall squirm, and CK shall drop off the lists once and for all. Until that great day, don't be afraid to speak the truth. 740 of 1,392 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Super Reviewer ½ Watching Citizen Kane today is almost like an exercise in deciding what is more perfect: if Gregg Toland's cinematography and gorgeous deep focus; Robert Wise's exceptional editing; Welles' magnificent direction and acting; or the film's superlative script told in a non-linear structure. Carlos Magalhães Super Reviewer ½ There is no confusion about why this is commonly considered one of the greatest films of all time. Idrees Khan Super Reviewer Citizen Kane is one of the greatest pieces of cinema that remains one of the most engaging pictures ever put to celluloid.

Orson Wells crafts a picture that tells a simple, subtle story that works brilliantly in capturing your attention from the first frame onwards. The cast do an immaculate job in their performances and each actor brings something unique to the screen to really make this film standout among other classics. Wells direction is terrific and he is able to craft a story that uses basic elements to create something truly remarkable with this picture. Orson Wells also stars in the film as the lead characters, Charles Kane who is a powerful tycoon Wells is superb in the part, and his work behind the camera is immaculate, fluent and brings the viewer into a truly special experience. The film is a must see due to its significance to the cinematic medium. Citizen Kane is a film that has stood the test of time, and yet again proves that the best pictures are the ones that tell a good story that is simple, yet well told and elevated by a talented cast that add so much to the film to make it a truly outstanding piece of cinema. Cinema fans owe it to themselves to check this treasure and Wells is a wonderful director that has crafted an excellent, engaging and memorable film that you soon won't forget. The picture is flawless and it has stood out among other classics.

With that being said, is this my favorite of classic cinema? It isn't, but it definitely is among the finest pieces of work of this era and any era for that matter. I'd have to say that Casablanca is my favorite, with Citizen Kane a close second. Either way, this is a sweeping masterpiece of film, one that has stood out and lives on through each decade as an exemplary film that each new viewer can take something out from the film. Citizen Kane is a flawless picture that has its place secured in cinematic history. Alex roy Citizen Kane | Muppet Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Share Bear reads about Citizen Crane. Citizen Kane is a 1941 is a film directed by Orson Welles , who also starred and co-wrote the script. Nominated for nine Academy Awards , the film is a fictionalized account of William Randolph Hearst, and is often considered the greatest film ever made. The film follows Charles Foster Kane (played by Welles), an enormously wealthy publisher, from his rise to his ultimate fall. The film opens on an elderly Kane, on his deathbed, holding a snow globe. He utters his last words, "Rosebud", and dies.

The film then switches to reporter Jerry Thompson, in his quest to find out about Kane's life, and the meaning behind his last word. References ‎Citizen Kane (1941) directed by Orson Welles • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd 47 My 1,000th film marked on this site ever since I joined, now over a year ago. I knew for such an occasion it had to be something special. Something important. Something, epic. Then I thought of one film, THE film, I still have yet to see. What have many described as the greatest film ever made. The one that changed the landmark of cinema. The one that still influences film making to this very day. Orson Welles', "Citizen Kane". A film that has been talked about for decades now. Highly regarded as the true peak of its medium.

Something that most filmmakers have seen, studied, and deconstructed for years on end, now being viewed by a teenager in Long Island.… 14 I’m not naïve enough to think that I have anything new to offer in my entirely unnecessary ode to Citizen Kane, but I'll continue writing this anyway because I like writing about films, and Citizen Kane is a film, all right, and a Towering Masterpiece of Cinema at that. I’d have to be exceedingly smart or exceedingly stupid to dispute that, and I reckon I fall somewhere in between. Pulling apart Citizen Kane shot by shot is more than enough to learn how to make a film, but pulling apart the film's circular structure is also a brilliant way to learn how to tell a story. Since I attempt to write, it's the narrative structure of Citizen Kane that interests… 11 This review may contain spoilers. Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane is a fascinating film to explore analytically, with regard to the notion of plot because, while the storyline of the film is rather simple, the manner in which it is exhibited to its audience is anything but.

It’s a prime example of a film being relatively basic in terms of the actual series of events that transpire, but incredibly complex in the way that these events are structured and presented, which allows the audience to approach the narrative from not only multiple planes of thought, but multiple planes of time as well. The nonlinearity of the storyline is key to the intricate presentation of the plot and, in this essay, Welles’… 8 Citizen Kane is the motion picture which, since its release, has been widely regarded by almost all critics, filmmakers & even many viewers around the world as the greatest film of all time. And although I agree to some extent that, purely on a technical scale, this might be the most influential picture ever made but based solely on its plot & story, there are far better examples in cinema than this one. Still, there is no denying that Citizen Kane is a boldly crafted feature which not only defied all the typical methods of filmmaking that were in use at its time of production but also ended up completely rewriting the manuals of filmmaking in the process.

The film tells the… ‘Citizen Kane’ is superb: 1941 review - NY Daily News ‘Citizen Kane’ is superb: 1941 review ‘Citizen Kane’ is superb: 1941 review NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Orson Welles takes the lead role in his film 'Citizen Kane', directed by himself for RKO. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, April 30, 2015, 12:00 PM (Originally published by the Daily News on May 2, 1941. This story was written by Kate Cameron.) The most talked about picture of the year, Orson Welles’ production of “Citizen Kane,” finally had its New York premiere at the Palace theatre last night, where an eager first night audience enthusiastically applauded the young theatrical man’s latest achievement. “Citizen Kane,” the first picture made by Welles to reach the screen, arrived at the Palace only after a major battle of words and wits had been engaged in by the executives of RKO, who released the film, and Welles, on one side, and the legal advisers of William Randolph Hearst, on the other.

The latter evidently imagined that the central character of the picture, one Charles Foster Kane, bore an uncomfortably close resemblance of the great California publisher. We are not, however, concerned with the controversy, except to say that the portrait of Kane seems more like a composite of a dozen or more American tycoons, rather than a faithful representation of an individual. We are interested in the picture, however, as a contribution to the screen and in that respect, it is one of the most interesting and technically superior films that has ever come out of a Hollywood studio. Aside from tendency to revert to the inadequate lighting of sets that distinguished primitive Russian, German and French films, Welles has approached his subject matter in an original manner. In the first place, he has done away with the long list of credits that clutter up the beginning of a film, and for this, he has earned our heartfelt gratitude. He begins his story with a March-of-Time-like review of Kane’s life, immediately following the publisher’s death in his castle-like home. In their search for a punch ending to the picture, the film men assign one of their reporters to interview Kane’s most intimate friends and business associates.

Thus the story is put together on the screen in piecemeal fashion as bits of information are gleaned from various people and light is thrown on the character of the man by his widow, his best friend and lifelong companion, the business manager of his publishing enterprises and the banker who controlled the purse-strings to his fabulous fortune. The May 2, 1941 copy of the The New York Daily News is seen. (New York Daily News) Welles Shines as Actor. Some day, and the time won’t be long in arriving, Welles will be the greatest director in Hollywood. Today, he may be listed among the top ranking directors and his superb performance of the title role of the picture makes him one of the outstanding actors of the screen. Only Charles Chaplin has equalled the Welles achievement on a major Hollywood production, for like the producer of “The Great Dictator,” Welles has written the story of Kane, in collaboration with Herman Mankiewicz, produced the picture himself, directed it and played the leading role to perfection. The Kane biography shows him as a wealthy young man who comes out of college filled with sociological ideas for the betterment of his fellow-men.

With an unlimited fortune at his command, he buys a daily paper and through its editorial columns put his ideas into practice. He makes a bid for political power by running for the governorship, but he is defeated by a swinger of votes when he tries to smoke the crooked bosses out of the party’s machine. Editor Kane marries a daughter of the rich, loses his wife when he becomes too obsessed with his papers and lust for power, and takes comfort in the arms of a young singer, whom he meets in a chance encounter on the street. Dies Alone and Friendless. Orson Welles in scene from "Citizen Kane". After his divorce and remarriage, Kane tries to drive his second wife into a professional career, hiring the best vocal coaches in the world and building the finest opera house in America for the debut. His wife, however, fails him, even though he makes her mistress of a modern “Xanadu,” a castle stronghold built to house his great art treasures gathered from all parts of the world. Bereft of his wife and his friends, the lonely old man dies, surrounded by his valuable possessions and clutching in his hand a cheap bauble that has been a constant reminder of his lost childhood.

Welles displays touches of genius in the handling of his story. His cast, made up of players from his Mercury Theatre group, respond like sensitive musicians to the movements of the conductor’s baton. Dorothy Comingore, who plays Kane’s second wife, is exquisitely lovely and a fine young actress. Joseph Cotton, as Kane’s friend, Leland is superb, as are Everett Sloane, George Coulouris, Ruth Warrick, Erskine Sanford and Ray Collins. The picture will run indefinitely at the Palace on a two-a-day schedule. Tags: Citizen Kane | film by Welles [1941] | Britannica.com film by Welles [1941] Bernard Herrmann Citizen Kane, American film drama, released in 1941, that was directed, produced, and cowritten by Orson Welles , who also starred in the lead role. Citizen Kane is acclaimed by many critics as the greatest movie ever made. As a landmark work in the history of cinema, it ranks among the few films ever produced for which a remake, in the opinion of most critics, is all but unthinkable. Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941).

Courtesy of RKO Radio Pictures, a division of RKO General; photograph from the Museum of Modern Art/Film Stills Archive, New York Welles’s much-analyzed drama centres on the rise and fall of a publishing magnate, Charles Foster Kane, who closely resembles William Randolph Hearst . (Hearst fought the film’s production from the start, and, when he was unsuccessful in his efforts to ban the film outright, he reportedly barred mention of it in his newspapers.) The mystery in the film surrounding the word “Rosebud,” which, it is revealed, is the name of the beloved sled of Kane’s childhood, made that word famous around the world and gave it a cultural significance well beyond the realm of cinema. Orson Welles (left) and Joseph Cotten in Citizen Kane (1941), directed by … © 1941 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.; photograph from a private collection history of the motion picture: The Hollywood studio system Welles was only 25 years old when he produced the film, and the movie’s groundbreaking techniques under his direction—primarily the innovative lighting and focusing methods of cinematographer Gregg Toland and the dramatic editing style of Robert Wise —continue to influence filmmakers today.

The film also benefited from an equally acclaimed supporting cast, many of whom worked on Welles’s famed radio show Mercury Theatre on the Air as well. Production notes and credits Citizen Kane (1941) Citizen Kane (1941) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) Background The fresh, sophisticated, and classic masterpiece, Citizen Kane (1941), is probably the world's most famous and highly-rated film, with its many remarkable scenes and performances, cinematic and narrative techniques and experimental innovations (in photography, editing, and sound). Its director, star, and producer were all the same genius individual - Orson Welles (in his film debut at age 25!), who collaborated with Herman J. Mankiewicz on the script (and also with an uncredited John Houseman), and with Gregg Toland as his talented cinematographer. [The amount of each person's contributions to the screenplay has been the subject of great debate over many decades.] Toland's camera work on Karl Freund's expressionistic horror film Mad Love (1935) exerted a profound influence on this film.

The film, budgeted at $800,000, received unanimous critical praise even at the time of its release, although it was not a commercial success (partly due to its limited distribution and delayed release by RKO due to pressure exerted by famous megalomaniac publisher W.R. Hearst) - until it was re-released after World War II, found well-deserved (but delayed) recognition in Europe, and then played on television. The film engendered controversy (and efforts at ruthless suppression in early 1941 through intimidation, blackmail, newspaper smears, discrediting and FBI investigations) before it premiered in New York City on May 1, 1941, because it appeared to fictionalize and caricaturize certain events and individuals in the life of William Randolph Hearst - a powerful newspaper magnate and publisher. The film was accused of drawing remarkable, unflattering, and uncomplimentary parallels (especially in regards to the Susan Alexander Kane character) to real-life.

The notorious battle was detailed in Thomas Lennon's and Michael Epstein's Oscar-nominated documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996), and it was retold in HBO's cable-TV film RKO 281 (1999) (the film's title refers to the project numbering for the film by the studio, before the film was formally titled).

Similarities (and Some Differences) Between Kane and Hearst Kane San Francisco Examiner, New York Journal Multi-millionaire newspaper publisher, and wielder of public opinion, called "Kubla Khan" Same kind of press lord, "yellow journalist," and influential political figure Political aspirant to Presidency by campaigning as independent candidate for New York State's Governor, and by marrying the President's niece, Emily Monroe Norton Political aspirant to Presidency by becoming New York State's Governor Extravagant, palatial Florida mansion, Xanadu filled with art objects "The Ranch" palace at San Simeon, California, also with priceless art collection Souring affair/marriage with talentless 'singer' Susan Alexander (the Hays Code wouldn't permit extra-marital affair) (Difference: Susan Alexander suffers humiliating failure as opera singer, attempts suicide, separates from Kane) A beloved mistress - a young, and successful silent film actress Marion Davies (Difference: No breakdown in Davies' unmarried relationship with Hearst) Similarities between mistress/wife Ganna Walska of Chicago heir Harold Fowler McCormick who bought expensive voice lessons for her and promoted her for the lead role in the production of Zaza at the Chicago Opera in 1920 Kane bought Susan

 an opera house, and although Susan said that her ambition was to be a singer, this career goal was mostly her mother's idea Excessive patronage of Davies - Hearst bought Cosmopolitan Pictures - a film studio - to promote Davies' stardom as a serious actress, although she was better as a comedienne Similarities between Chicago Utilities tycoon Samuel Insull who built the Chicago Civic Opera House in 1929 for his daughter Character of Walter Parks Thatcher Similarities with financier J.P.

Morgan Character of Boss James 'Jim' W. Gettys Similarities with Tammany Hall (NYC) Boss Charles F. Murphy The gossip columnist Louella Parsons persuaded her newspaper boss Hearst that he was being slandered by RKO and Orson Welles' film when it was first previewed, so the Hearst-owned newspapers (and other media outlets) pressured theatres to boycott the film and also threatened libel lawsuits. Hearst also ordered his publications to completely ignore the film, and not accept advertising for other RKO projects. However, the title character Charles Foster Kane is mostly a composite of any number of powerful, colorful, and influential American individualists and financial barons in the early 20th century (e.g., Time Magazine's founder and mogul Henry Luce, Chicago newspaper head Harold McCormick, and other magnates of the time). By contrast, the real-life Hearst was born into wealth, whereas Kane was of humble birth - the son of poor boarding-house proprietors. And Kane also was separated from both his mother and his mistress, unlike Hearst.

[Footnote: In early March of 2012, California's Hearst Castle hosted a screening of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941), 71 years after its original release. It was part of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. One of Hollywood's most famous behind-the-scenes battles occurred over the making of the film, when William Randolph Hearst banned coverage of the film in his newspapers, and tried to curtail its success. He accused the film of wrongly portraying him as a ruthless, publishing tycoon who died alone in the castle. Steve Hearst, VP of the Hearst Corporation, who allowed the screening, believed that it would highlight the fictional elements in the movie, and "correct the record." Proceeds from the screening raised money for upkeep of the estate's extensive art collection.] Welles' film was the recipient of nine Oscar nominations with only one win - Best Original Screenplay (Mankiewicz and Welles).

The other eight nominations included Best Picture (Orson Welles, producer), Best Actor and Best Director (Welles), Best B/W Cinematography (Toland), Best Art Direction (Perry Ferguson and Van Nest Polglase), Best Sound Recording (John Aalberg), Best Dramatic Picture Score (Bernard Herrmann with his first brilliant musical score), and Best Film Editing (Robert Wise). With his four Academy Awards nominations, Welles became the first individual to receive simultaneous nominations in those four categories. The less-lauded John Ford picture How Green Was My Valley (1941) won the Best Picture honor.

Many of the performers from Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre group made their screen debuts in the film, among them Joseph Cotten (Kane's oldest and best friend, and his newspaper's drama critic), Dorothy Comingore (Kane's second wife), Ruth Warrick (Kane's first wife), Ray Collins (Kane's political opponent), Agnes Moorehead (Kane's mother), Everett Sloane (Kane's devoted and loyal employee and business manager), Erskine Sanford (the newspaper's editor-in-chief), Paul Stewart (Kane's butler), George Couloris (Kane's legal guardian and bank manager), and William Alland (the chief investigative reporter). More importantly, the innovative, bold film is an acknowledged milestone in the development of cinematic technique, although it 'shared' some of its techniques from Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) and other earlier films. It uses film as an art form to energetically communicate and display a non-static view of life.

Its components brought together the following aspects: use of a subjective camera unconventional lighting, including chiaroscuro, backlighting and high-contrast lighting, prefiguring the darkness and low-key lighting of future film noirs inventive use of shadows and strange camera angles, following in the tradition of German Expressionists deep-focus shots with incredible depth-of field and focus from extreme foreground to extreme background (also found in Toland's earlier work in Dead End (1937), John Ford's The Long Voyage Home (1940), and Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) ) that emphasize mise-en-scene; also in-camera matte shots low-angled shots revealing ceilings in sets (a technique possibly borrowed from John Ford's Stagecoach (1939) which Welles screened numerous times) sparse use of revealing facial close-ups elaborate camera movements over-lapping, talk-over dialogue (exhibited earlier in Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (1940) ) and layered sound the sound technique termed "lightning-mix" in which a complex montage sequence is linked by related sounds a cast of characters that ages throughout the film flashbacks, flashforwards and non-linear story-telling (used in earlier films, including another rags-to-riches

 tale starring Spencer Tracy titled The Power and the Glory (1933) with a screenplay by Preston Sturges, and RKO's A Man to Remember (1938) from director Garson Kanin and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo) the frequent use of transitionary dissolves or curtain wipes, as in the scene in which the camera ascended in the opera house into the rafters to show the workmen's disapproval of Mrs.

Kane's operatic performance; also the famous 'breakfast' montage scene illustrating the disintegration of Kane's marriage in a brief time long, uninterrupted shots or lengthy takes of sequences Its complex and pessimistic theme of a spiritually-failed man is told from several, unreliable perspectives and points-of-view (also metaphorically communicated by the jigsaw puzzle) by several different characters (the associates and friends of the deceased) - providing a sometimes contradictory, non-sequential, and enigmatic portrait. The film tells the thought-provoking, tragic epic story of a 'rags-to-riches' child who inherited a fortune, was taken away from his humble surroundings and his father and mother, was raised by a banker, and became a fabulously wealthy, arrogant, and energetic newspaperman. He made his reputation as the generous, idealistic champion of the underprivileged, and set his egotistical mind on a political career, until those political dreams were shattered after the revelation of an ill-advised 'love-nest' affair with a singer. Kane's life was corrupted and ultimately self-destructed by a lust to fulfill the American dream of success, fame, wealth, power and immortality.

After two failed marriages and a transformation into a morose, grotesque, and tyrannical monster, his final days were spent alone, morose, and unhappy before his death in a reclusive refuge of his own making - an ominous castle filled with innumerable possessions to compensate for his life's emptiness. The discovery and revelation of the mystery of the life of the multi-millionaire publishing tycoon is determined through a reporter's search for the meaning of his single, cryptic dying word: "Rosebud" - in part, the film's plot enabling device - or McGuffin (MacGuffin). However, no-one was present to hear him utter the elusive last word. The reporter looks for clues to the word's identity by researching the newspaper publisher's life, through interviews with several of Kane's former friends and colleagues. Was it a favorite pet or nickname of a lost love? Or the name of a racehorse? At film's end, the identity of "Rosebud" is revealed, but only to the film audience.

[One source, Gore Vidal - a close friend of Hearst, wildly claimed in 1989 in a short memoir in the New York Review of Books that "Rosebud" was a euphemism for the most intimate part of his long-time mistress Marion Davies' female anatomy.] And finally, the film's title has often been copied or mirrored, as a template for the titles of other biopics or documentaries about a figure often striving for socio-political recognition, as in the following films: Citizen Saint (1947) about modern miracle worker Mother Frances Cabrini Damn Citizen (1958) about a Louisiana state politician Citizen Tania (1989) - about heiress Patty Hearst's abduction by the Symbionese Liberation Army the HBO made-for-TV Citizen Cohn (1992) - about Senator Joseph McCarthy's loathsome lawyer Roy Cohn (James Woods) of the late 40s and 50s in the HUAC Citizen Langlois (1995, Fr.) about pioneering film archivist Henri Langlois of the Cinematheque Francaise - with some footage from the 1941 film Oliver Stone's epic biography Nixon (

1995) could have been titled Citizen Nixon -- it's a modern-day 'Citizen Kane' story about another tragic figure, filmed in a disjointed, non-linear or non-chronological fashion (with unexpected flashbacks) and the use of newsreel footage as Welles did, and including an argument between Nixon and his wife at the dinner table - resembling the famed breakfast table scene in Citizen Kane; the famous 18 1/2 minute gap would serve as the enigmatic 'Rosebud' director Alexander Payne's debut film and political satire Citizen Ruth (1996) about Ruth Stoops (Laura Dern) - a pregnant woman caught as a pawn in the middle of the abortion rights issue Citizen James (2000) about a young Bronx filmmaker (writer/director/star Doug E.

Doug) the TV series Citizen Baines (2001) about an ex-politician (James Cromwell) dealing with three grown daughters the documentary Citizen King (2004) - about Martin Luther King, Jr. originally made for PBS' American Experience series The Story The intriguing opening (a bookend to the film's closing prologue) is filled with hypnotic lap dissolves and camera movements from one sinister, mysterious image to the next, searching closer and closer and moving in. [The film's investigative opening, with the camera approaching closer and closer, may have been influenced by the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) . Both films open and close on a matted image of a mansion in the distance.] The film's first sight is a "No Trespassing" sign hanging on a giant gate in the night's foggy mist, illuminated by the moonlight. The camera pans up the chain-link mesh gate that dissolves and changes into images of great iron flowers or oak leaves on the heavy gate. On the crest of the gate is a single, silhouetted, wrought-iron "K" initial [for Kane].

The prohibitive gate surrounds a distant, forbidding-looking castle with towers. The fairy-tale castle is situated on a man-made mountain - it is obviously the estate of a wealthy man. [The exterior of the castle resembles the one in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) .] In a succession of views, the subjective and curious camera, acting omnisciently as it approaches toward the castle, violates the "No Trespassing" sign by entering the neglected grounds. In the private world of the castle grounds, zoo pens have been designed for exotic animals. Spider monkeys sit above a sign on one of the cages marked 'Bengal Tiger.' The prows of two empty gondolas are tied to a wooden wharf on a private lake, and the castle is reflected in the water. A statue of the Egyptian cat god stands before a bridge with a raised drawbridge/portcullis over a moat. A deserted green from the large golf course is marked with a sign needing repair (No. 16, 365 yards, Par 4). In the distance, a single, postage stamp-sized window of the castle is lit, always seen at approximately the same place in each frame.

Palm trees surround a crumbling gate on the abandoned, cluttered grounds. The castle appears in a closer, medium shot. During an even closer shot of the window, the light within the window suddenly goes out. From an angle inside the turret room facing out of the enormous window, a silhouetted figure can be seen lying stiffly on a bed in the low-lit room. The scene shifts to swirling snowflakes that fill the entire screen - here's another mysterious object that demands probing. The flakes surround a snow-covered house with snowmen around it, and in a quick pull-back, we realize it is actually a wintery scene inside a crystal glass globe or ball-paperweight in the grasping hand of an old man. [First Appearance of Glass Ball in Film] Symbolically, the individual's hand is holding the past's memories - a recollection of childhood life in a log cabin. [Psychoanalytically, the glass ball represents the mother's womb.

Later in the film, it also is learned that the globe, associated with Susan, represents his first and only innocent love.] The film's famous, first murmured, echoed word is heard uttered by huge, mustached rubbery lips that fill the screen: R-o-s-e-b-u-d! [In reality, no one would have heard Kane's last utterance - in this scene, he is alone when he dies, although later in the film, Raymond the butler states that he heard the last word - a statement not completely reliable. It has been speculated that everything in the film was the dying man's dream -- and the burning of Rosebud in the film's climax was Kane's last conscious thought before death.] An old man has pronounced his last dying word as the snowstorm globe is released from his grip and rolls from his relaxed hand. The glass ball bounces down two carpeted steps and shatters into tiny pieces on the marble floor. [The film's flashbacks reveal that the shattering of the glass ball is indicative of broken love.] A door opens and a white-uniformed nurse appears on screen, refracted and distorted through a curve of a sliver of shattered glass fragment from the broken globe.

In a dark silhouette, she folds his arms over his chest, and then covers him with a sheet. The next view is again the lit window viewed from inside. A dissolve fades to darkness. In an abrupt cut from his private sanctuary, a row of flags is a backdrop for a dramatic, news-digest segment of News on the March! [a simulation/parody of the actual "March of Time" series produced by Time, Inc. and its founder Henry Luce beginning in the mid-30s]. The biopic film-in-a-film is a fact-filled, authoritative newsreel or documentary that briefly covers the chronological highlights of the public life of the deceased man. The faux newsreel provides a detailed, beautifully-edited, narrative-style outline and synopsis of Kane's public life, appearing authentically scratched, grainy and archival in some segments.

The structure of the narrative in the newsreel is as follows: Information about Xanadu and its grandeur Kane's career (personal, political, and financial) - interwoven Thatcher's confrontation with Kane for the first time in the snow Chronological Account of Kane's life The test screening of the first episode of the series is titled on the first panel, soon followed by the words of a portentous, paternalistic, self-important narrator: Obituary: Xanadu's Landlord An explanatory title card with the words of Coleridge's poem is imposed over views of Xanadu (actually a series of shots of San Simeon). Kane and his Xanadu is compared to the legendary Kubla Khan: In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree - - Narrator of Newsreel: Legendary was the Xanadu where Kubla Khan decreed his stately pleasure dome. Today, almost as legendary is Florida's Xanadu, world's largest private [views of people lounge around Xanadu and its pool] pleasure ground.

Here, on the deserts of the Gulf Coast [the camera views the coastline], a private mountain was commissioned and successfully built. [Workmen are shown building the tremendous castle] One hundred thousand trees, twenty thousand tons of marble are the ingredients of Xanadu's mountain. Contents of Xanadu's palace: [crates with statues and other objects are brought into Xanadu] paintings, pictures, statues, the very stones of many another palace - a collection of everything so big it can never be catalogued or appraised, enough for ten museums - the loot of the world. [views of endless numbers of crates arriving] Xanadu's livestock: [views of horses, giraffes, rare birds, a large octopus, an elephant, donkeys, etc.] the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, the beast of the field and jungle. Two of each, the biggest private zoo since Noah. Like the pharaohs, Xanadu's landlord leaves many stones to mark his grave. Since the pyramids, Xanadu is the costliest monument a man has built to himself.

Another explanatory title card: Super Reviewer ½ Watching Citizen Kane today is almost like an exercise in deciding what is more perfect: if Gregg Toland's cinematography and gorgeous deep focus; Robert Wise's exceptional editing; Welles' magnificent direction and acting; or the film's superlative script told in a non-linear structure. Carlos Magalhães Super Reviewer ½ There is no confusion about why this is commonly considered one of the greatest films of all time. Idrees Khan Super Reviewer Citizen Kane is one of the greatest pieces of cinema that remains one of the most engaging pictures ever put to celluloid. Orson Wells crafts a picture that tells a simple, subtle story that works brilliantly in capturing your attention from the first frame onwards. The cast do an immaculate job in their performances and each actor brings something unique to the screen to really make this film standout among other classics. Wells direction is terrific and he is able to craft a story that uses basic elements to create something truly remarkable with this picture.

Orson Wells also stars in the film as the lead characters, Charles Kane who is a powerful tycoon Wells is superb in the part, and his work behind the camera is immaculate, fluent and brings the viewer into a truly special experience. The film is a must see due to its significance to the cinematic medium. Citizen Kane is a film that has stood the test of time, and yet again proves that the best pictures are the ones that tell a good story that is simple, yet well told and elevated by a talented cast that add so much to the film to make it a truly outstanding piece of cinema. Cinema fans owe it to themselves to check this treasure and Wells is a wonderful director that has crafted an excellent, engaging and memorable film that you soon won't forget. The picture is flawless and it has stood out among other classics. With that being said, is this my favorite of classic cinema? It isn't, but it definitely is among the finest pieces of work of this era and any era for that matter. I'd have to say that Casablanca is my favorite, with Citizen Kane a close second.

Either way, this is a sweeping masterpiece of film, one that has stood out and lives on through each decade as an exemplary film that each new viewer can take something out from the film. Citizen Kane is a flawless picture that has its place secured in cinematic history. Alex roy Citizen Kane (1941) - MUBI Citizen Kane 119 Synopsis Citizen Kane, written, produced, directed and played by Orson Welles, follows the rise and fall of a publishing tycoon. The story is told through the research of a newsreel reporter seeking to solve the mystery of the newspaper magnate’s final dying word: “Rosebud”. This film is not currently playing on MUBI but 30 other great films are. See what's now showing Citizen Kane Huey McEvoy Difficult for first-time viewers to judge its merits through a lens of huge expectation, but multiple viewings do diminish that fog. Put simply: a brilliant script, beautifully shot with some fantastic acting. Packs some surprising emotional (and funny) punches too, plus its ambiguous characters and incredible staging make it still fresh and relevant today. A film for fans of Film, perhaps the greatest of the Greats.

Matthew Martens "I think it might be fun to run a country," thought one enterprising young brat when he saw this movie, and thanks, in part, to the absence of a Rosebud around his neck (or a soul to ballast his ego), and thanks too, among many other things, to a culture that in the 76 years since the film's release has only grown more besotted with its machinery of celebrity, this Friday he'll have his chance, his dream, his toy.

Question: Who directed the film Citizen Kane (1941)?
Answer: Orson Welles